Tymon Mellor: West Brother Island is located between Tuen Mun and Lantau Island. It is 4km away from the northern coast of Lantau Island. The island, along with East Brother Island and Reef Island, are known as The Brothers. The West Brother Island Graphite Mine operated from 1952 to 1971 with most of its production exported to the United Kingdom […]
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Tymon Mellor: In 1902 the Public Works Department embarked on the Tai Tam Tuk Scheme. This was divided into the First Section covering the construction of the Tai Tam Intermediate Reservoir and the Second Section for the main Tai Tam Tuk reservoir. The latter would become Hong Kong’s largest reservoir with a capacity greater than the total of all the […]
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Tymon Mellor: On the 12 October 1938, two divisions of Japanese troops landed in Bias Bay (Daya Bay), not to attack Hong Kong, but heading for Canton (Guangzhou). The event was witnessed by a reporter from the China Mail who was being flown in a Hornet Moth belonging to the Far East Flying Training School at Kai Tak. Canton quickly […]
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Tymon Mellor: Galena ore, the main source of lead was first discovered at Lin Ma Hang in around 1914. As described in Part 1, a number of attempts were made to commercially exploit the lead ore, but they all failed. That was until Mr Morrison Brown Yung took an interest in the site and introduced modern mining methods to extract […]
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With the completion of the Kai Tak reclamation in 1930, it was now time to turn the new platform into an aerodrome. This would require the establishment of a government department to manage the aerodrome, provision of facilities to support commercial operations, and the establishment of a flying school. Airmail and Commercial Service As a government funded operation, the new […]
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Tymon Mellor: Spurred by the looming civil war in China, the partially complete Kai Tak reclamation became a temporary RAF facility in 1927. Both the British and Hong Kong governments wanted to construct a dedicated aerodrome but limited financial resources tempered their enthusiasm. While discussions on funding continued, solutions to completing the reclamation and the design of the proposed aerodrome […]
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Tymon Mellor: For eight years, Morrison Brown Yung developed the Galena mine at Lin Ma Hang. He excavated the access tunnels and located the main ore body, but with the fall in lead prices as a result of the Great Depression, the mine was un-economic to work. Following his death in 1933, the mine was eventually taken over in 1937 […]
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In the early days of flying, there were no paved runways, just large flat areas allowing take-off and landing to suit the prevailing wind conditions. Initially there was little interest from the Hong Kong Government to identify a suitable site within the territory for an aerodrome as flying was seen as a niche interest with little practical use. In 1911 […]
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Tymon Mellor: Hong Kong International Airport handles over 1,000 aircraft movements a day, a long way from the first Hong Kong airfield at Sha Tin, where at 5:10pm on 18th March, 1911 Charles Van den Born, a Belgian undertook the first powered flight in the territory. Flying a 1910 Farman Mk II bi-plane named “Wanda”, he made a short flight […]
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Tymon Mellor: A silver mine was operating in the hills behind Mui Wo between 1886 and 1896, developed and owned by Mr Ho A Mei, a local Hong Kong entrepreneur and social activist. Associated with the mine was a mineral processing plant, where the ore was crushed and smelted into lead and silver. The location of the plant has never […]
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